Intel Quad Core VS Intel Core i3-530

[y0umebednow]

Which one is faster? im really not sure about the new Intel Core i3... I heard somewhere that it has a virtual core or something of that sort? which one is faster and better for gaming?

[Mr. Pedantic]

The Core i3's are substantially faster than the Core 2 Duos at just about everything...apart from gaming. It depends on the chips you compare, but against the E8400, 8500, and 8600, they are better or worse depending on the game. However, against the Core 2 Quads, the Core i3s suck. Except on single-threaded applications.

I heard somewhere that it has a virtual core or something of that sort?

You mean Hyperthreading. Basically on hyper-threading-enabled chips, each core can handle two threads; this means that the operating system treats each thread as a core, meaning the number of cores you 'have' is doubled. However, the Core i3 chips do not have hyperthreading. They are limited to 2 physical cores. If you want a hyperthreading-enabled dual-core CPU, you can get one of the Core i5 6xx CPUs.

[V.]

Maybe he means the integrated graphics inside the CPU's, but maybe you're right, it was quite vague

[*The.Doctor]

Don't go with a Core 2 chip at this point. Socket 775 is dead now, and you would pretty much eliminate any chance of upgrading in the future. I say go with the Core i5 750 if you can, the i5 6xx chips have severly limited memory bandwidth compared to the 750 and the i7's which can make a big difference at times.

The i3 is a decent dual core, and will overclock like a beast, but it will take a big overclock for it to even compete with a decent quad core.